1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a greeting card which also serves as a carrier for a data carrying card having an encoded scanable area such as an activatable calling card. More particularly, it is concerned with such a card and its method of use, whereby an encoded strip on the card extends from the perimeter of the greeting card carrier for vending and reading, retracts to be within the perimeter for mailing and presentation to the recipient, and then extends to display the encoded card when the front panel of the greeting card is pivoted away from the back panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Greeting cards have long been used to convey congratulations or warm sentiment to recipients. A benefit of having preprinted greeting cards is that professional artwork and corresponding textual expression is provided to the purchaser, who may then add personal notes and/or sign the card. On many occasions, the sender of the card may include cash or a check as a present to the recipient. Some cards have been designed with special pockets to hold currency intended as a gift.
While greeting cards are very popular, they are a somewhat detached form of communication. The greeting card provides a means of conveying sentiment and a message, but is not interactive. Often, the sender of a card, such as a parent or grandparent, would like to convey a gift but also be the recipient of a telephone call from the child or grandchild, for example.
More recently, telephone calling cards have been manufactured and sold at retail. These telephone calling cards and the systems for their use are described generally in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,706,275 and 5,918,909, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The telephone calling cards are typically displayed at retail attached to a cardboard panel which acts as a carrier. A portion of the telephone calling card carrying a magnetically encoded strip extends from the margin of the cardboard carrier. At the retail checkout stand, the telephone calling card is activated after the purchaser pays the required retail amount by xe2x80x9cswipingxe2x80x9d the encoded strip through an electronic reader. This activates the account for the card from a remote computer for a metered amount of telephone usage corresponding to the personal identification number or PIN particular to and identified on the card. This credits the account so that upon purchase, telephone usage is xe2x80x9cprepaidxe2x80x9d. The user then dials in the PIN in the process of using the card, with the usage being deducted from the computer-held account until exhausted. When the available number of minutes of usage have been exhausted, any calls in progress are automatically terminated, and no further calls can be initiated from that card unless additional minutes are purchased for that PIN. In the case of sample cards or other prepaid cards, an account may be created without the necessity of scanning the card upon purchase. While these encoded areas are typically magnetically encoded strips, the encoded areas may also be provided as optically scannable blocks may also be employed to carry the account information from which purchases of goods or services may be deducted.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a means of giving a gift account card which is convertible for other goods and services and may be purchased in combination with a greeting card.
It is another object of the present invention to use a greeting card as a carrier for a card having a data encoded area whereby the encoded area card may be coupled to the greeting card to provide a single product for purchase and extend externally to the perimeter of the greeting card for activation, be retracted into a hidden position within the perimeter of the greeting card for mailing to the recipient, and then revealed when the greeting card is opened.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a readily manufacturable and saleable combination greeting card and encoded area card which has lay-flat characteristics during shipping to the distributor or retailer, and avoiding excess packaging and waste.
It is a further object to provide a greeting card which allows the sender to convey a prepaid telephone calling card, thereby facilitating and encouraging return interactive contact by the recipient to the sender.
These and other objects have been largely met by the greeting card carrier for data scannable card of the present invention. By xe2x80x9cscannable cardxe2x80x9d, it is understood that as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,909, the card itself is merely read by a scanner, but that an account corresponding to the card is activated after scanning at the point of purchase. The present invention provides a combined product which may be purchased as a unit at retail, thereby avoiding waste normally found in the provision of a separate carrier packaging for the scanable card. It satisfies the desire of the purchaser to convey a sentiment and gift. When the scanable card is a telephone calling card, it provides a potential return benefit to the sender of the greeting card carrier by suggesting, directly or subliminally, that the recipient should use the telephone calling card to contact the sender. The invention thus combines a greeting card and a telephone calling card to be regarded as a xe2x80x9cgive-me-a-call-card.xe2x80x9d One benefit of the present invention is that the encoded card, once activated, may remain connected to the carrier but hidden between front and back panels during mailing and initial presentation to the recipient, whereupon opening of the card in a generally upright position causes the hingably mounted scanable card to extend for full display. In this way, the greeting card carrier of the present invention satisfies the desire for a sequential presentation with initial hiding of the gift which is then revealed only after opening, as well as providing interest by motion during opening.
The greeting card carrier of the present invention broadly includes a carrier having a front panel and a rear panel connected along a hinge line, a hinge member, and a second card having a scanable data encoded area coupled by the hinge element to the carrier, whereby in a first extended position the scanable card has a portion extending outwardly from the perimeter of the panels of the carrier which bears the scanable area and a second retracted position is inward of the perimeter of the panels and hidden from view. The hinge element may be incorporated in one of the front and rear panels of the carrier, or alternatively provided separately and preferably includes an adhesive to hold the scanable card until removal is desired. The hinge element is preferably provided on the rear panel, so that the scanable card flips forwardly when the carrier is opened. The front panel may include a recessed area in the perimeter so that the activatable card is received in registry therewith in an initial position at the time of purchase to reveal the scanable area for scanning, and then moved into a concealed position by user so that the carrier readily fits within an envelope and the scanable card is concealed by the greeting card until the front panel is opened.